Braking device for textile machinery



March 31, 1970 R. L. BOOTH BRAKING DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 23, 1968 RAYMOND LBOOTH ATTORNEY March 31, 1970 R. BOOTH 3,503,427

BRAKING DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY Filed July 23, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR RAYMON o L.Boom

ATTORNEY March 31, 1970 R. L. BOOTH BRAKING DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 23, 1968 INVENTOR RAYMOND LBOOTH ATTORNEY United States Patent M US. Cl. 139-100 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A caliper type disc brake mechanism for textile machinery such as looms adapted to be actuated by hydraulic means which receives its dictates through linkage elements interconnected with the looms shipper motion.

Background of the disclosure The invention relates to a braking mechanism especially for looms of the type wherein through linkage means the brake is released when the shipper handle is moved to loom operating position, and applied when said handle is moved to the n0n-operating position.

Braking mechanisms of the prior art which function in the manner described above are of the well known internal expanding type, that is to say, they have opposed brake shoes which are caused to pivot and make contact with an internal machined surface of a drum member or the like. An older common form of brake is that of a brake band which when the brake is applied, is caused to contract and make contact with the rim or outer machined peripheral surface of a rotating drum or similar article such as shown and described in US. Patent 1,646,539.

The models of looms for which these types of brakes were developed were lighter and ran at much slower speeds than present day looms and said brakes performed their intended function satisfactorily.

The speed of present day looms has been greatly increased and the various added mechanisms as well as strengthening of the loom structure has increased subsubstantially the weight of a loom as well as the braking force necessary to stop said loom.

The known forms of braking mechanisms described above have presented what are considered undesriable conditions in modern looms, for considerable difficulty is had in maintaining consistent position stopping of a loom, as well as an excessive amount of time is required to adjust and maintain a desired setting of such mechanisms.

The braking mechanism according to the instant invention being of the caliper disc type eliminates the undesirable conditions described above as well as being selfadjusting and provides precise control over the braking action with no danger of uncontrolled self-boosting action which could cause torque surges.

Summary of the invention The braking mechanism of the present invention, being of the caliper disc type utilizes opposed brake shoes or so-called pucks. A disc fixed for rotation with the looms crank shaft is adapted to rotate within the space provided by the opposed pucks which when activated are caused to make frictional contact with said disc and with sufficient force to stop the loom.

The pucks of the invention are activated by hydraulic pressure and it should be understood that they could also be activated by mechanical, electrical or pneumatic means.

By means of mechanical linkage interconnected with the looms shipper handle and a hydraulic master cylinder, the brake is automatically applied when said handle is moved to the non-operating position and automatically released when said handle is moved to operating position.

Patented Mar. 31, 1970 Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a portion of the left hand side of a loom showing the braking mechanism according to the invention applied thereto.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the braking mechanism shown in FIG. 1 as seen looking from the front of a loom, and FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 but shown as looking from the opposite side thereof.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to the drawings wherein only as much of conventional loom structure is depicted as is necessary to a complete understanding of the invention, there is shown by means of phantom lines in FIG. 1 a portion of the left hand loom frame 10 which supports for rotation a crank shaft 11. The crankshaft traverses the distance between the loom frames (one only shown) and is journaled adjacent its ends in bearing members 12 which are fixed to the loom frames by means of bolts 13 and 14 (FIGS. 2 and 3).

The usual hand wheel 15 shown by means of phantom lines is fixedly attached to the left hand end of the crank shaft 11. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, that portion of the crank shaft which extends between the hand wheel 15 and the bearing member 12 has a hub 16 fixed thereon by means of set screws 17 and a key 18. Thus hub 16 is adapted to rotate with the crank shaft and has concentrically assembled thereto, by means of bolt 19, a disc 20 which forms a part of the braking mechanism and will hereinafter be described in greater detail.

In FIG. 1 the looms shipper handle is shown at 21 and being pivotably attached to the upper forward portion of the loom frame 10 as at 22, it is movable in a well known manner between operating and non-operating positions. The shipper handle 21 is provided adjacent its pivot point with an integrally formed lug 23 which extends generally forwardly and slightly upwardly at an angle oblique to the longitudinal extent of said shipper handle.

The free end of the lug 23 has one end of a brake release rod 24 pivotably attached thereto by means of a bolt 25 (FIG. 1). Extending generally rearwardly and at an angle slightly downwardly from the horizontal, the opposite end of the brake release rod 24 is disposed so as to function in cooperation with a brake lever generally indicated in FIG. 1 by numeral 26. This brake lever includes a hub portion 27 and by means of a stud 28 extending therethrough it is pivotably supported on the loom frame 10. The brake lever includes upper and lower arms 29 and 30 respectively which extend from the hub 27 in opposed relation and said lower arm extends downwardly for a portion of its length and thence forwardly, relatively to the depth of the loom, for the remainder thereof. Adjacent the forward free end of the lower arm 30 the brake lever is provided with an integrally formed and downwardly extending ear 31 which serves as a means for attaching one end of a brake lever spring 32. The opposite end of this spring is attached to a spring bracket 33 that is fixedly positioned to the lower forward portion of the loom frame 10 as at 34.

The lower arm 30 is also provided, adjacent to the hub 27, with an aperture 35 through and beyond which the free end of the brake release rod 24 is adapted to extend. This end of the brake release rod is threaded as at 36 and has assembled thereon a threaded collar 37. The portion of the collar 37 which faces in a forwardly direction is V-shaped and is adapted to be drawn into a recess 38 of conforming configuration in the lower arm 30 by movement of the shipper lever 21 to its operating position. This movement pivots the brake lever in an anti-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, to release the brake in a manner to be more fully explained. The upper arm 29 of the brake lever is bifurcated (bifurcation not shown) at its upper end and provides a means for supporting and actuating a generally horizontally disposed brake rod 39. This brake rod is further supported and guided by a U- shaped lug member which forms an integral part of and extends outwardly from the side of the looms frog 41 partially shown in FIG. 1. To serve as a shock absorber for the brake rod 39 at time of bangolf, when the frog 41 is caused to move forwardly as a result of engagement with the looms dagger finger (not shown), said rod is provided with a compression spring 42. This spring is assembled on the forward threaded portion of the brake rod and is disposed intermediate a pair of washers 43 and 44 and further includes a pair of hex nuts 45 and 46 for positioning the assembly in close proximity with lug member 40.

Intermediate the upper bifurcated portion of the arm 29 and the lug member 40, the brake has assembled thereon an actuating collar 47 which is fixedly positioned in juxtaposed relation with said arm 29 by means of a pair of check nuts 48 and 49.

The brake rod 39 extends in a rearwardly direction relative to the depth of the loom and is provided adjacent that end with a collar element 50 (FIGS. 1 and 2) which is adjustable on said rod by means of a set screw 51. This collar element 50 is positioned to bear against the rearward side of a forked activating lever 52 which is supported pivota'bly by a master cylinder generally indicated by numeral 53. The activating lever 52 depends from the master cylinder and the forked portion thereof straddles the brake rod 39 as shown in FIG. 2. Adjacent the pivot point of the activating lever which is shown at 54 (FIGS. 1 and 2) said lever is provided with a forwardly extending finger 55 that is mechanically linked to a piston 56 within the master cylinder. In FIG. 1 a portion of the master cylinder is shown cut away to illustrate the relative position of the piston 56 therein.

The master cylinder contains a full supply of hydraulic brake fluid and which by means of movement of the piston 56 is capable of transmitting changes in hydraulic pressure through a length of tubing 57 connected thereto. This length of tubing 57 which also contains the brake fluid interconnects the master cylinder with a caliper type disc brake generally indicated by numeral 58.

This braking assembly and others of similar construction are available commercially and the one shown and described herein is of the type manufactured and sold by the H-H Products Company, Inc., of Milwaukee, Wis.

As shown in FIG. 3 the caliper type disc brake unit 58 includes opposingly disposed housings 59 and 60 which are attached one to the other by means of bolts 61 and 62. These bolts also serve to support the disc brake unit in a mounting bracket '63 which in itself is fixed to the loom frame 10 by means of bolts 64 and 65 having nuts 66 and 67 respectively thereon.

The housing 60 in this instance has a fixed brake shoe or so-called puck 68 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The second or opposed housing 59 includes a brake shoe or so called puck 69 (FIG. 3). This puck 69 which through increases and decreases in hydraulic pressure is movable toward and away from the puck 68 within the space separating the housings 59 and 60 and within which space the disc 20 is adapted to move in a position to be engaged by the pucks 68 and 69.

With the shipper handle 21 in the off position the pucks are in braking engagement with the disc 20 and by means of a brake release lever 70 the brake can be released without moving said shipper handle to the loom operating position. The release lever is pivotally mounted at the front of the loom as at 71 (FIG. 1) and is mechanically linked to a release lever link 72. Link 72 extends generally downward and through an aperture provided in a laterally extending ear 73 integrally formed on the forward end of the brake levers lower arm 30. The end of the release lever link 72 below the car 73 is formed at a right-angle relative to the longitudinal extent of the greater part of the length of said link and serves as a means for pivoting the brake lever 26 in an anti-clockwise direction when the release lever 70 is pivoted approximately Movement of the brake lever in this manner releases the brake rod 39, and the pressure of the hydraulic fluid tending to equalize itself between the disc brake unit and the master cylinder moves the piston 56 and activating lever 52 in a direction to move said brake lever rearwardly, thereby releasing the brake.

In operation the shipper handle 21 is in that position shown in FIG. 1 and the pucks 68 and 69 are not in braking engagement with the disc 20. When the shipper handle is pivoted rearwardly to the non-operating position, it moves the brake release rod 24 in a like direction a distance sufficient to disengage the V-shaped portion of the threaded collar 37 from the recess 38 in the lower arm 30 of the brake lever 26. The disengagement of the threaded collar 37 permits the brake lever 26 to be pivoted in a clockwise, direction as viewed in FIG. 1, by means of contraction of the brake lever spring 32 which attempts to return to its free length. Movement of the brake lever 26 in this manner causes the upper arm 29 thereof to push against the actuating collar 47 which in turn moves the brake rod 39 in the direction of the indicating arrow A in FIG. 1. As the brake rod 39 moves forwardly, the collar element 50 is caused to bear against and pivot the forked activating lever 52, which depends from the master cylinder 53. This movement moves the piston 56 within the master cylinder in such a direction as to cause an increase in hydraulic pressure between said piston and the braking unit, thereby causing braking engagement of the pucks 68 and 69 with the disc 20.

When the shipper handle is pivoted to operating position, it pulls the brake release rod forwardly a sufficient distance to cause the threaded collar 37 thereon to engage the recess 38 in the brake lever 26 and pivot the latter in an anti-clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1. This motion relieves the bearing pressure of the upper arm 29 against the actuating collar 47 and the hydraulic fluid under pressure tending to equalize the pressure between the braking unit and the master cylinder pivots the forked activating lever 52 in a direction to move the brake rod 39 rearwardly and the pucks 68 and 69 are released from braking engagement with the disc 20.

I claim:

1. A braking mechanism for a loom having a rotatable driven shaft and a shipper handle movable between positions for starting and stopping said shaft which includes:

(a) a brake release rod fulcrumed upon said shipper lever and mechanically linked to a spring biased brake lever normally tending to activate said braking mechanism,

(b) an activating means controlled through siding movement of an actuating rod that receives its dictates from said brake lever,

(c) a pressure responsive housing for transmitting indications for braking a loom as received from said activating means,

(d) a caliper-type disc brake interconnected with and adapted to be actuated by said pressure responsive housing, and

(e) a disc fixed to and having a positive rotating relationship with said driven shaft and disposed for rotation intermediate opposed operating surfaces of said brake.

2. The braking mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said activating means comprises a fluid-containing master cylinder having a fluid-displacing piston movable within said cylinder.

3. The braking mechanism according to claim 2 wherein said master cylinder further includes a pivotable control lever mechanically linked to said piston and said actuating rod, whereby movement of said piston is provided by pivotable movement of said control lever through the sliding movement of said actuating rod.

4. The braking mechanism according to claim 3 Wherein said master cylinder includes a length of fluid retaining tubing interconnecting said master cylinder and said disc brake and actuation of said brake being effected through increases and decreases in fluid pressure by the movement of said piston Within said master cylinder.

5. The braking mechanism according to claim 4 wherein said disc brake includes at least one movable brake shoe adapted to be actuated toward and away from said disc by means of increases and decreases in fluid pressure transmitted from said master cylinder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,646,539 10/1927 Johnson 188166 2,551,920 5/1951 Willis et a1. 139-97 5 2,737,209 3/1956 Meyer 139-400 2,861,655 11/1958 Butler 188-73 HENRY S. JAUDON, Primary Examiner 10 US. Cl. X.R. 

